Sighting tooth and claw

At first glance, viewers of “Spy on the Wild” (Animal Planet, 8 p.m. Sunday) might fondly recall animal documentaries of their youths. In gentler times, the peregrine falcon would offer a lesson about the web of life. But these aren’t gentle times in cable television.

In “Spy on the Wild,” the falcon takes off and glides in “Matrix”-style slow motion, in death-defying barrel rolls. A miniature camera attached to the bird’s neck shows the ground rushing up.

Then the image jumps underwater, to a close-up of a shrimp’s claw. The force of this claw is so great, says the narrator, that it momentarily boils water when it slams onto prey. To emphasize the shrimp’s might, the screen fills with a hammer smashing a coconut, and a gun blasting.

The arresting images of “Spy on the Wild” represent Animal Planet’s strategy under new top executive Maureen Smith, who took over the network four months ago. Competition from Fox Entertainment Group, the company that built an empire with shows like “Temptation Island,” has pushed Animal Planet into more aggressive, innovative offerings.

Cuddly pandas still get airtime. But cute only goes so far. Now television producers of animal programs work to replicate the immediacy and technological whiz of video games.

“We wanted this to feel very fast paced,” Smith said. “Today’s audiences have very short attention spans. There has to be something incredibly exciting every few minutes.”

In “Spy on the Wild,” bees are fitted with radar transponders, infrared cameras are strapped to seals and thermal imagery transforms salamanders into neon-glowing blobs. The behavior of each animal is mentioned in passing, but the real stars are the visual effects.

Ever since an Australian crocodile hunter catapulted Animal Planet into the nation’s consciousness in 1999, and helped transform corporate parent Discovery Communications Inc. into a $2-billion-per-year behemoth, televised animals have become big business.

Discovery Communication’s 14 networks -- including the Discovery Channel -- attract a cumulative 625 million subscribers. In 2001, Fox Entertainment Group jumped in, pouring $270 million into the National Geographic Channel.

“Everyone wants to capture the 12-year-olds,” said Boyd Peterson, vice president of consumers and media with the Yankee Group, which consults on media and technology. “If they can make them sit still long enough.”

In October, Animal Planet unveiled “Snakemaster,” a series hosted by a South African kung fu black belt who once spent 107 days in a glass cage with 36 deadly snakes. However, “Spy on the Wild,” produced in cooperation with the BBC, raises the bar by making animals secondary to technology.

Viewers learn that some birds, outfitted with global positioning tracking devices, follow highways when returning home, rather than simply flying straight. In one instance, a flock of pigeons follows a major thoroughfare and takes the wrong exit. Once the birds realize their mistake they return to the highway and follow it until the next exit, finally arriving at their roost.

Although the new technology thrills viewer-hungry television executives, some animal rights groups are not happy with the trend.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a radical animal rights group, has asked Animal Planet to discontinue programs like “Spy on the Wild.”

“When animals are portrayed as violent creatures, it encourages animal cruelty,” said Laura Brown, a coordinator for the group. “No animal should ever be used simply for entertainment, particularly when you have to strap cameras to their backs or attach bulky devices.”

The show’s producers disagree.

“With these cameras, you can literally look over a bird’s shoulder as it flies,” producer Peter Bassett said.

“The first time I saw the eagle’s head, and the ground rushing underneath, I got a tingle in my spine. I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t be fascinated by that.”

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‘Spy on the Wild’

Where: Animal Planet

When: 8-10 p.m. Sunday

Rating: TV-G (suitable for all ages)

Steve Leonard...Animal Investigator

Executive producer, Sara Ford, Jason Williams, Dawn Sinsel.